


Until Next Time

by capricious_enthusiast



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cute, England (Country), F/M, Romance, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 02:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17275757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capricious_enthusiast/pseuds/capricious_enthusiast
Summary: A cute romance in WWII England between a widow and a veterinarian from the point of view of her cat!





	Until Next Time

The lady had once been the most happy person I had ever seen, but today she was crying. Yesterday, too. It had been so many days that she had been crying. At the same time every evening, she always gave me some food and sat next to me while I ate it. It was many many days of crying before she stopped just giving me food and took me inside. Sometimes there would be loud noises and the ground would shake, and she would hold me until it was over. Sometimes she would just look at a picture in a box and cry some more. However, I cannot complain. I had a small bed where I could sleep, two toys to keep me company, and all of the delicious food that I could want. The living conditions were very luxurious for someone like me.   
Sometimes I would sleep with the lady when she cried, and sometimes I would leave the house for a little bit and wander around. It was one of her better days, and I was enjoying the cool night air. I remembered the life I used to have, the life where I would go hungry for days, and then feast until I could bear no more. When the people couldn’t touch me for fear of injury and disease and when I was covered in bruises because of annoying brats and their annoying stones. I was roaming past one of the houses, deep in my memories, when I heard a noise. I wasn’t sure what happened, but I remember a few moments later being a considerably farther from where I had been before, with pain throughout my entire body. Everybody had put those black cloths against their windows, so nobody saw me as I limped home alone in silence except for the ringing in my ears and a distant scream of terror. When I got home, I curled up in front of the door and fell asleep. 

I woke up in the lady’s arms, wrapped up in a towel. She was sitting in a chair in a room with white walls with a singular picture of a horse hanging one of them. A man in a white coat with curly hair walked into the room and looked and me, and then the lady. His eyes were green, like the color of my mother’s eyes.   
“You must be Mrs. Williams. And this is your cat?”  
“I-er-yes, this is my cat, and he’s very badly injured, Dr...?”  
“Demir. Oliver Demir. May I see him please - don’t worry Mrs. Williams, it will be okay.”   
The lady looked upset as she handed me over, although she wasn’t crying this time. This was the first time in a while that I had seen her fluffy cloud of hair look like all of the other ladies’ hair, and she had lines near her brown eyes that made them look slightly different. She also had more colors on her face. She looked at the ground.  
“It’s nothing, Dr. Demir. Just...this little cat is all I have anymore. I don’t know what happened, I found him in front of my door this morning.” She reached over and stroked my head. It immediately stung with pain. The man in the coat looked at her and shook his head.  
“Well, I’m assuming that the Germans are the cause of all of your problems right now. This guy is injured badly, but he’ll stay alive.”  
“Germans?”  
“The bombs last night. He must have wandered near where one of them hit.” The man sighed. “I heard that two people might have died around here.”   
“Two people? Around here?”   
“Ah, I apologize. I’m just adding to your stress here. Let’s go have a look at the cat.”  
The man holding me and the lady walked into another room. The man looked at me for a few minutes, and put strange things all over my fur before handing me back to the lady.   
“Here you go. You should probably bring him in a few more times until he heals.”  
“Yes, of course, Dr. Demir.” She paused for a second. “By the way, what did you mean earlier? When you said that the Germans were the cause of all of my problems?” The man looked uncomfortable.   
“I-uh...Well, I guess I thought that you must have...the war must have affected you...negatively.”   
The lady looked at him for a second, and sighed. “My husband...he was killed in the war a year ago, and this cat is now my only friend.” The lady stroked my fur softly. “I guess you’re right. It’s thanks to the Germans that I’m a pathetic lady who barely leaves her house anymore and talks to her cat. It’s been a year, I should probably be somewhat reintegrated into society by now. Although that would require that club that repairs soldiers’ uniforms to find a different subject of gossip.” She laughed quietly. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all of this.”  
“You’re not pathetic, Mrs. Williams. People grieve in different ways. It’s okay to still be sad over a loved one’s death, and it’s normal to not immediately go back to the way things were.”  
There were tears streaming down the lady’s face, as she looked down at her lap and cleared her throat.  
“I just...I’m so lonely.”  
“I- well… you can visit me anytime, Mrs. Williams, if you need company. Would you like handkerchief?”  
“No, I have one, but thank you.” The lady dabbed at her tears, and cleared her throat.  
“When should I bring back the cat?”  
“Er...in a few days. I’ll look over him, make sure he’s okay. And honestly, Mrs. Williams, most people would have just left this fellow in a ditch somewhere. You’re a good person, don’t you worry what anyone else says behind your back.”  
“Thank you, doctor.” The lady sat there for a few more seconds before taking a deep breath and getting up.   
“Well then, I’ll see you in a few days, Dr. Demir. Thank you for helping my cat and for dealing with...me. I really appreciate it.” The lady gave him a small hug and started walking out of the room. The man stood there awkwardly.   
“Yes, of course. Have a nice day, Mrs. Williams.”  
She waved as she walked out the door, with a slight smile on her face. That evening, she didn’t cry. 

 

The lady brought me to the curly haired man’s building many more times. Each time, he would take some stuff off of the bloody parts and put other things back on, until it wasn’t really bloody anymore. One day, when he took the things off, I didn’t feel any pain. It felt so good.   
“Looks like he’s healing pretty nicely!” the man said, looking at one of my legs. The lady looked over at my leg as well. She smelled different today, like flowers.  
“Oh, thank goodness. Do you think I need to bring him in again, Dr. Demir?”   
“Well, maybe a few more times. Just to be safe. And…” the man cleared his throat, “Please...call me Oliver.” The lady looked at him for a few seconds, before nodding.  
“Okay...Oliver. And yes, I don’t want little Fluffy here to be in any more pain.” She picked me up and kissed my nose. The man chuckled.  
“What is it?” the lady asked, setting me back down.  
“Nothing, nothing. Well, it’s just...Fluffy?”   
“Are you making fun of my cat’s name? Because that is very rude, Dr.- Oliver,” The man’s face turned slightly pink as he smiled, which was strange, because the temperature was exactly the same.   
“Er..no, no, of course not Mrs. Williams. I completely respect the noble name you have chosen for this majestic creature.”   
“I should hope so.” The lady had her hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised like she does when I knock over one of her bowls to hear the weird noise and watch it break into a million little pieces. The man started to check all of the other spots that didn’t hurt anymore, as the lady and him kept talking. Both of them looked really happy, obviously because they were both very glad that my physical health was much improved. After a few minutes, the man set me on the ground. Now that I didn’t have those things wrapped around me, I stretched my muscles and ran around the room. It felt amazing to finally be free again.   
“Look at him! He definitely feels a lot better. Thank you so much, Oliver. For everything.” The lady picked me up again. I liked her, but I wanted to keep moving around. I kicked and squirmed, trying to get back on the ground.  
“Of course, Mrs. Williams.” They looked at each other for a few seconds. I had no patience for this. I jumped to the ground and ran towards the door. The lady laughed.  
“Oh, looks like he wants to get home! Until next time, doctor. And…call me Loretta.”   
The man’s face turned red as the lady opened the door. As soon as I saw the grass, I bolted. It was so much softer when I could move my legs freely. As I was running out the door, I saw a glimpse of the man’s smile as he said, “Until next time...Loretta.”

 

I spent the next few days running and jumping, and feeling like a living animal again. Therefore, you can imagine my annoyance when the lady picked me up and carried me back to that place with the curly haired man. I was better, I didn’t need things wrapped around my legs again! I squirmed all the way to the room, but she didn’t let me go. She opened the door and walked in.  
“Doctor Oliver, it’s your favorite majestic fluffy cat here to see you!” she called out. The door to the other room opened, but it wasn’t the curly haired man. It was another lady with short yellow hair and a rather pale face. She didn’t look very happy like the curly haired man.   
“I’m sorry, Doctor Demir is at his mother’s, but I could take a look at your cat if you wish.”  
The lady walked over to the yellow hair lady. “Oh-okay...um, my cat was recently near one of the bombs, and he was hurt very badly.”  
“Can I take a look?” The lady- my lady- handed me over.   
“Hmm,” Yellow-hair said, “If he was badly wounded, he looks very much healed to me.”  
“Oh. Well, Oli - Dr. Demir told me to come in a few more times, so-”  
“I’m sure he did,” Yellow-hair interrupted, “But that is not necessary any longer.”  
“Are-are you sure?”  
“Fairly sure, yes, as we are both very qualified in health and medicine. In fact, that’s the reason that we are engaged.” My lady stared at Yellow-hair for a moment before nodding curtly.   
“Of course, madam. I’ll get going then.” She whirled around and strode out the door. She looked a lot less happy on our way home. Despite my desire to frolic happily all the way back, I stopped squirming, and tried to make her face happy again. It didn’t change. She didn’t look happy, but she didn’t look sad either. She looked angry. For the rest of the night, her mouth was in a straight line, and her eyes were slightly narrowed. That night, she sat in her bed and looked out the window for a really long time. It was the first night in weeks I saw her tears.

 

I remember that I knocked over a cup instead of a bowl that morning, because I was so surprised by the knock that I missed the bowl and made a mess of ceramic and tea. Nobody had ever knocked at the door to the lady’s house as long as I had been there. The lady was surprised too, evidently, because she ran down to the door in her nightgown, with a toothbrush in her mouth. She paused before she opened the door, ran to the sink, and spit out the toothpaste. She ran back, and opened the door. She looked startled.   
“Oliver?”  
“Yes, I just got back yesterday. I’m very sorry to come this early but -”  
“Hold on, wait, come inside-” the lady pulled him inside. “I have to go get changed, you can wait here with the cat. She went back upstairs, and came down a few minutes later looking like how she was when she visited the man when I was hurting. The lady didn’t look happy . I jumped on top of one of the chairs, and decided to just watch.   
“You may continue with what you were saying.”  
“Uh...thank you. Well, I heard that you visited from Anne that you stopped by a few days ago, and I just wanted to make sure-”  
“Oh, so your fianceé’s name is Anne. What a pretty name. The question is, why are you here and not off planning your very extravagant wedding? Why, you must be swimming in money if you managed to avoid going off to the war like the rest of them.”  
“Fianceé? What are you talking about?”  
“What am I talking about? ‘Oh, we’re both doctors, how I love medicine, ooh la la.’ I guess I was wrong to disclose my entire sad story to you, as it doesn’t seem like you want to tell me this very crucial detail about yourself.”  
“Loretta - we’re not engaged. At most, we’re acquaintances.”   
The lady looked perplexed. “What?”  
“She told you we were engaged?”  
“Yes, very clearly - I don’t understand - why would she say that?”   
The man sighed. “She has a tendency to… stretch certain facts. She was notorious for spreading crazy rumors when we trained. I guess she hasn’t changed much.”  
“You’re...not engaged?”  
“Not at all.”  
The lady sighed and smoothed down her hair. She got up, and picked me up off of the chair.   
“Here.” She handed me over to the man, looking at the table. He looked at all the places that I had hurt before, but he thankfully set me back on the ground without putting any of those things around my legs. The two of them were both silent for a while. The man looked back at the lady.   
“I...I’m very sorry for the misunderstanding Loretta. My mother was sick, and Anne was the only one around on such short notice.”  
The lady took a deep breath and looked back up at the man.  
“Would you like to stay for breakfast, Oliver?”  
The man smiled. “That sounds lovely, Loretta.”

The curly haired man kept visiting until one day, he just stayed. All of us moved to a different house after a while, and soon there was a little person who hogged all of my attention. I would occasionally see one of the cats that I had used to hunt with, and I would sometimes still see a rock thrown my way by an annoying little kid, but I had more food than I would ever have had before. I was willing to let the little person have some of the attention, because I was very kind and generous, of course, but because I was also full without being hungry for days. The curly haired man never really put those things on my legs again, and I decided to accept his continuous presence around the lady.   
I started to miss the excitement, though, my old routine, the way that a rabbit after a day of hunting tasted more delicious than fancy ‘people food’ could ever taste after a day of sitting around, doing nothing.   
It had been years that the lady had stopped crying herself to sleep. She didn’t need me anymore.   
I had stuffed myself full of food that evening. The man and the lady were asleep, and the little one was in a tiny crib. They were happy. I wanted to be happy, too. A breeze was flowing in through the window, cooling the hot, stagnant air. I looked at the three of them for a moment, and I climbed out of the window. There were no loud noises, no shaking, no screaming, no flashes of light anymore. The hum of crickets and the slight rustle of leaves were the only sounds to be heard on this night. I took a deep breath of the night air, and looked out at the world. The sky was clear, and the stars were bright.   
I leaped down onto the soft grass, and darted into the night.  
Until next time, Loretta.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If anyone has any criticisms or comments, I am happy to receive them. If anyone has actually read this story, just know that I am extremely grateful that you took the time from your day to read. I hope you enjoyed my story!


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